NEW GOVERNMENT MUST REVERT TO PRO-BUSINESS POLICIES

NEW GOVERNMENT MUST REVERT TO PRO-BUSINESS POLICIES

ISME, Tuesday 1st March, 2016

Curtail costs and encourage start-ups to ensure jobs growth.

High business costs and social welfare system slowing down recovery.

At the release of the Monthly Unemployment figures from the CSO today (1st March), ISME, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, demanded that the next administration revert to pro-business policies and put small businesses at the centre of the agenda. The Association called on the new government to concentrate on cost competitiveness, taxation stability and a renewed emphasis on entrepreneurs.

The Monthly Unemployment figures for February confirm that 190,900 people are still signing on the dole, a reduction of -2,000 in the month. The standardised unemployment rate is 8.8%.

Commenting on today’s figures, ISME CEO, Mark Fielding, said

“as can be seen from the figures the rate of reduction in jobless has slowed. Sooner or later the message has to get through to our politicians that jobs will not be created unless costs are curtailed. The outgoing government has learned this salutary lesson from the electorate. The overemphasis on wage increases, the utopian living wage and paid leave for everything from paternity to holidays while out sick, was adding costs to already struggling small and medium businesses and was not sustainable”.

“Maybe now we can start to invest time and energy in a sustainable economy and begin to reward entrepreneurial risk and the resultant job creation. Ireland needs to become the go-to place to start and grow a business. We must encourage start-ups who have their roots in Ireland and will stay, as well as the large multinationals with mobile capital.”

The Association called on the Government to:

Reduce government influenced business costs to below the EU average.

Encourage entrepreneurs through the tax system.

Ensure real measurable access to credit for viable SMEs.

Outsource more state sector services to SMEs.

Reform the social welfare system to make it more profitable to work.

Attack the scourge of ever-increasing black economy activity.

“The loose pre-election pay promises were seen for what they were and now every effort must be made to regain confidence, nurture the wealth and job creating SME sector through cost curtailment and focused incentives. This will result in a virtuous circle of jobs, welfare reduction and tax revenue increases”, concluded Fielding.